Holi and Hip Hop


I just returned from an unseasonably cold visit to Tansen, Palpa, a relatively remote town in the Himalyan hills.  When I say cold, I don’t mean freezing, sub-zero temperatures like the US East Coast is experiencing right now.  But a shivery, bone-chilling cold in a concrete hotel with very little heating.  Bedtime was a frigid affair, but with a hoodie, thick socks and a hot water bottle I slept well even though I could see my breath in the room.  “Cold” can be relative.

However, yesterday afternoon the temperatures were back into the high seventies and the sun shone.  Our work event welcomed crowds of students and local children, many of whom were splashed with colour in celebration of Holi, the annual Hindu celebration known as the festival of colour.  They very kindly didn’t spray me, and made a very colourful audience for our Hip Hop dancers, the highlight of my morning.  Here’s a little Hip Hop and Holi…an unlikely combination….but one that worked pretty well!

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Whoa!

Holi Colour

Colourful faces of Holi

nepali breakdancers

Holi 2015

 

Happy Holi: Run!


DSC01737You better run if you don’t want to get hit!  Today in Nepal it is Holi, a colourful local festival that celebrates joy and happiness. On this day, men, women and children throw colored paint, vermilion power and plain old water on each other and (hopefully) unsuspecting passersby.   It gets pretty messy!

Holi celeration

After dousing his sister in purple paint powder, this little devil is about to super soak her too!

Above every street or around any corner is someone with a paint bomb, ready to take you out! 

This little guy was hidden on a roof, waiting for his next victim.  Little did he know I was watching him!

This little red-faced guy was hidden on a roof, waiting for his next victim. Little did he know I was watching him!

Holi is a religious festival with its own set of legends celebrating Krishna, but I prefer its social message: putting color on each other symbolizes amity, friendship and mutual trust….although I’m not quite sure how ambushing someone with an unexpected shower of coloured water quite installs trust!  But its fun and the kids love it.

It was very hard to take photos surreptitiously.  The second they saw a camera I would have been a major target!  However I did manage to sneek a few through the window.  Here are some very colourful people returning home from the festivities:

Waiting for a lift?

Waiting for a lift?

Holi Festival

For some very colourful people, they are looking very sombre. Maybe they lost the pink powder fight?

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A Word a Week Photograph Challenge